Free stall divider training rail

ABSTRACT

Loop-shaped dividers transversely connected to a pair of horizontal beams which are supported off the ground by means of vertical poles spaced at long intervals and having longitudinal rails pivotally mounted along an adjustable horizontal axis immediately adjacent the uppermost portion of the dividers.

llmted States Patent 1191 1 1 3,726,257 Andersen 1 51 Apr. 10, 1973 1541 FREE STALL DIVIDER TRAINING 1,512,610 10 1924 KOlb ..119 27 RA 1,062,119 5 1913 Root ..119 27 1,079,166 11/1913 Cramer ..119/27 Inventor: Benedict Robert Andersen, 834 1,503,039 7/1924 Franklin ..119/27 South California St, LOdi, Calif. 3,127,871 4/1964 Jorgensen, Jr ..1l9/27 95240 2,642,037 6/1953 Merrill ..1 19 27 1,066,194 7/1913 Ferris et a1. ..119 27 [22] Filed: Jan. 15,1971

Appl. No.: 106,748

US. Cl.

Primary Examiner-Aldrich F. Medbery Attorney-Manfred M. Warren et al.

1 57 ABSTRACT [51] Loop-shaped d1v1ders transversely connected to a pair 58 Fld 18 h .1119 7,1 ,28 6 1 le 0 mm /2 S of honzontal beams which are supported off the ground by means of vertical poles spaced at long inter- [56] References cued vals and having longitudinal rails pivotally mounted UNITED STATES PATENTS along an adjustable horizontal axis immediately adjacent the uppermost portion of the dividers. 795,645 7/1905 Pinckney ..1 19/27 2,853,052 9/1958 Pearson ..1 19/27 3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 42 WW 1. 9:2 I

FREE STALL DIVIDER TRAINING RAIL This invention relates to training rails pivotally mounted to a stall arrangement for facilitating the cleaning of the stalls and improving sanitary conditions in the indoor housing and milking of cows which are kept in the stall arrangement.

Accordingly, a primary object of this invention is the automatic positioning of cows so that their droppings fall in a predetermined area.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a safety feature for eliminating injury to a cow which does not initially position itself in relation to the positioning device.

The above and other objects of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art after a consideration of a preferred embodiment of this invention taken together with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the device; FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 22 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a blown up view of the device shown in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 44 of FIG.

Referring in detail to the drawing, there is shown in FIG. 1 a series of vertical poles 20 which extend upward from the ground 22 to the roof of the stall structure supporting it. A pair of longitudinal metal plates 24 with a hole in the center thereof is horizontally welded to vertical support 20 at two spaced points therealong above ground 22. A longitudinal beam 26 is horizontally bolted onto the top of one end of each plate 24 by means of bolts 28. At spaced intervals along the sides of longitudinal beams 26 are attached vertical plates 30 between the lower and upper beams 26 by means of bolts 32. Extending in a vertical plane with longitudinal legs 34 parallel with the ground 22 from each vertical plate 30 is a looped railing or divider 36. Adjacent the free end of each divider 36 is an isle 38 upon which the cows may walk when not in any stall 40 formed by two consecutive dividers 36.

Dividers 36 are spaced about 4 feet apart which is ample room for a cow to lie down and get up; however, it frequently happens that a cow will get up and then lie down in his own droppings on the floor of stall 40. This problem may be remedied by teaching and inducing a cow not to dirty the actual area in which it lies down. A shaft 50 having a series of apertures 52 along the length thereof is welded to the top of a plurality of the topmost legs 34 spaced from each other. Pivotally attached to each shaft 50 is an arm 54 by means of a pin 56 at the end thereof which is insertable in any desired hole 52. A pipe 58 is horizontally mounted to the end of each arm 54 bymeans of a U-bolt 60 to provide a training rail. Although a cow will be able to lie down on ground down in its own droppings.

While a preferred em odiment has been illustrated and described, it will become apparent to those skilled in the art that many changes and modifications may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.

I claim:

1. In a livestock stall formed by a plurality of generally parallel relatively spaced apart side dividers, an end divider, and a support structure supporting said dividers with respect to a stall floor area to define a U shaped stall having an open end for entry of animals thereto, a training rail to train animals using said stall to deposit their droppings outside said floor area comprismg:

a rail member mounted above said divider to extend between said side dividers and transversely across the top of said stall adjacent said end divider, said rail member being mounted at a height above the floor of said stall greater than the height of the heads of animals lying on said floor and at a height above the floor of said stall less than the height of the heads of animals standing in said stall, said rail member being further positioned at a distance from said open end of said stall preventing said animals from standing in said stall in a position toward the closed end thereof at which droppings of said animals would be deposited in said floor area; and

mounting means secured to said stall and mounting said rail member to said stall for upward displacement thereof when impacted by the head of an animal rising from lying to standing position when under said rail member and for downward biasing of the return of said rail member after impact to the original position of said rail member said mounting means being provided by a pivotal mount positioned in the plane of and parallel to said rail to effect gravity biasing of said rail member above said divider and away from the outboard end thereof.

2. A training rail as defined in claim 1, and a plurality of side-by-side U-shaped stalls; and wherein,

said rail member is formed as an integral member extending across a plurality of stalls.

3. A training rail as defined in claim 2, wherein said pivotal mount includes means for selectively varying the distance said rail member is positioned from the open end of said stall. 

1. In a livestock stall formed by a plurality of generally parallel relatively spaced apart side dividers, an end divider, and a support structure supporting said dividers with respect to a stall floor area to define a U-shaped stall having an open end for entry of animals thereto, a training rail to train animals using said stall to deposit their droppings outside said floor area comprising: a rail member mounted above said divider to extend between said side dividers and transversely across the top of said stall adjacent said end divider, said rail member being mounted at a height above the floor of said stall greater than the height of the heads of animals lying on said floor and at a height above the floor of said stall less than the height of the heads of animals standing in said stall, said rail member being further positioned at a distance from said open end of said stall preventing said animals from standing in said stall in a position toward the closed end thereof at which droppings of said animals would be deposited in said floor area; and mounting means secured to said stall and mounting said rail member to said stall for upward displacement thereof when impacted by the head of an animal rising from lying to standing position when under said rail member and for downward biasing of the return of said rail member after impact to the original position of said rail member said mounting means being provided by a pivotal mount positioned in the plane of and parallel to said rail to effect gravity biasing of said rail member above said divider and away from the outboard end thereof.
 2. A training rail as defined in claim 1, and a plurality of side-by-side U-shaped stalls; and wherein, said rail member is formed as an integral member extending across a plurality of stalls.
 3. A training rail as defined in claim 2, wherein said pivotal mount includes means for selectively varying the distance said rail member is positioned from the open end of said stall. 